A Chinese fentanyl-precursor smuggling network used a Japan-based shell company to launder drug proceeds through crypto fraud, a Nikkei investigation found.
China Fentanyl Network Ran Crypto Fraud from Japan Base: Nikkei
22 June 2026 - 08:50 CEST
By Oihyun Kim
The probe, published 22 Jun, centres on Hubei Amarvel Biotech (Amarvel), whose executives were convicted in the US in 2025. It traced four crypto wallets linked to Amarvel and its Nagoya front company, Firsky KK, and found more than 120 transactions involving US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)-sanctioned entities, including the Wuhan Yuancheng Group, whose fugitive boss carries a $5mn bounty.
Amarvel's TRON wallet distributed 45.98mn tokens mimicking zkSync via an OKX hot wallet. Victims who clicked a spoofed airdrop link had wallets drained; total losses estimated at several hundred million yen (roughly $2mn). Chainalysis described it as textbook money laundering.
The .jp domain, normally restricted to Japan-based registrants, was registered in 2023 while Firsky was active, pointing to deliberate exploitation of Japan's reputational trust.
